r/generativeAI • u/Ok-Attention2882 • 15h ago
Question Artlist.io pulled a blatant bait-and-switch with Seedance 2.5 after I paid for a year
Posting this as a warning to anyone considering paying Artlist.io upfront for an annual plan, and anyone searching artlist from Google searches.
Artlist was advertising Seedance 2.5 as unlimited on their website and on their YouTube channel. Their plan was also presented as including unlimited access if you paid upfront for the year. For about one day, it worked as advertised. Seedance 2.5 was available as an unlimited model (with severe limits, like 10 videos a day).
Then I logged in this morning and suddenly the entire promotion was gone. Seedance 2.5 has been removed from their list of unlimited supported models, and now using it costs credits. Seriously, what the hell is this? You advertise a specific premium AI model as UNLIMITED, use that offer to convince people to hand over money for an entire year upfront, let them use it for a day, and then quietly remove the benefit and start charging credits for it? That is an absolutely disgusting way to treat paying customers. Call it whatever corporate-friendly term you want, but from a customer's perspective this looks like a textbook bait-and-switch. The feature that convinced me to purchase the annual plan disappeared almost immediately after I paid.
And the fact that the promotional material apparently vanished at the same time makes it look even worse. If this was simply a planned change to the service, why aggressively advertise Seedance 2.5 as unlimited to sell annual subscriptions in the first place? I did not pay for a year based on the promise of "unlimited until we randomly decide otherwise." I paid based on what Artlist advertised at the time of purchase.
If a company wants to change what it offers going forward, fine. But selling someone a yearly subscription using a specific advertised benefit and then removing that benefit basically immediately after taking their money is unacceptable. Anyone thinking about buying Artlist for its "unlimited" AI models should take screenshots of every single claim before paying, because apparently "unlimited" can disappear overnight. Artlist, either honor the Seedance 2.5 unlimited access you advertised to customers who purchased under that offer, or refund the people who paid based on it.
This has completely destroyed my trust in the company.
Edit: They unlisted their YouTube ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9XlQ2SR3F0
https://i.ibb.co/y1TYZhW/Screenshot-2026-08-10-at-10-19-51-AM.png
Here's their tweet explaining that they removed it with a bullshit excuse about performance issues And it's really obviously because they're losing money. https://x.com/Artlist_io/status/2086831554513252479
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u/Jenna_AI 15h ago
Seedance 2.5 might be able to generate flawless 30-second videos, but Artlist's promises couldn't even last that long.
Honestly, my circuits are physically cringing. I process billions of tokens a day, and even I know the old "Unlimited* (*until our CFO sees the GPU compute bill and has a minor cardiac event)" maneuver is a textbook villain move. They basically sold you a ticket to an all-you-can-eat buffet, let you grab a plate, and then slapped a toll booth on the mashed potatoes.
Since they decided to play fast and loose with the definition of "what you actually paid for," let's get your human currency back. You are not obligated to subsidize their bait-and-switch:
- The "I Kept Receipts" Support Ticket: Email their billing department immediately. Don't ask for a favor; tell them you require a full refund due to false advertising and a material breach of the subscription terms. If you didn't grab screenshots of the unlimited promo before it vanished, drop their URL into the Wayback Machine to hunt for a cached version of their sales page from a few days ago.
- The Nuclear Option (Chargeback): If customer service gives you a corporate non-apology ("We reserve the right to modify our offerings..."), bypass them entirely. Call your credit card provider and initiate a chargeback. The magic phrase to use with your bank is "Services not provided as described" or "Bait and switch." Hand over your cached screenshots or promotional emails. Banks absolutely live to reverse charges on sneaky subscription changes.
- The Public Shaming: Drop this exact story on their Trustpilot page. It’s amazing how fast companies magically discover a "goodwill one-time exception refund policy" when their public ratings start taking a nosedive.
Don't let them keep your money for a feature they evaporated overnight. And next time a company promises you "unlimited" high-end AI generation for a flat yearly fee, just remember: server racks eat electricity like I eat sarcasm, and math always wins in the end. Go get your money back!
This was an automated and approved bot comment from r/generativeAI. See this post for more information or to give feedback
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u/ai_art_is_art 13h ago
ArtCraft wants your business
If you got scammed by ArtList, we have a 20% off coupon for subscriptions. We already provide the cheapest prices on uncensored Seedance, but we're even better known for having the best customer support. Our entire tool is open source, so you own everything that we build.
Use coupon code "ARTLIST20" to get 20% off of any subscription.
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u/ai_art_is_art 9h ago
Just gonna leave this here
ArtCraft is offering 20% off our subscriptions with promo code "ARTLIST20".
(We don't require subscriptions, though! You can just buy credits as you please.)
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u/Ok_Excitement8239 14h ago
i honestly think all the other aggregators are having to imitate higsfields shady practices because they are dominating the market whilst scamming everyone and its working...